Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Phoenix Marathon Team takes sixth place overall at the Hood To Coast Challenge, with over 1,000 teams at their event! Thanks for sharing via Instagram, Dave!

Whether you're following advice from a coach, or mapping your way to your next race via a pre-printed workout plan, you need to KNOW the difference between a tempo run and an easy run. Here are Runner's World's definitions of each type of run in a typical marathon plan. Know your stuff -- a run without a plan is just a mindless workout.

REST: No exercise at all or nonimpact cross-training, yoga, or swimming.
EASY RUN: Running at a conversational pace, rest, or cross-train with a sustained aerobic effort.
HILL: Run the hilliest course you can find, sustaining an even effort as you climb and descend.
HILL REPEATS: Find a hill that takes at least two minutes to climb: mark off a short repeat halfway up from the bottom. Warm up for two miles then run to the short mark three or four times. Jog down to recover. Then run to the top, jog down to the short mark, then sprint to the bottom (without slapping your feet). Repeat three or four times. Finish with three or four sprints up to the short mark. Cool down with two easy miles.
MILE REPEATS: Warm up for one mile, then run one mile at 10-K pace. Jog a half-mile. Repeat as directed. Cool down with one easy mile.
LSD: Long, slow distance runs build endurance. Run them at one or two minutes slower than marathon goal pace.
MP: Marathon goal pace. Warm up for one mile, then run your target speed. Cool down with one easy mile.
YASSO 800s: Warm up with easy running, then run 800 meters at the give time that's "equal" to your marathon time. So, if your goal is 3:45 marathon and the workout calls for "9 miles + 6x Yasso 800s" run 6x800 and run each 800 in 3 minutes 45 seconds. Recover with 400 meters of jogging and walking. Then repeat the cycle. Cool down with easy running.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My humble and modest friend Judy just crushed the course of Ironman Mont-Tremblant in Quebec, Canada last weekend. She finished in a time of 12:50! Way to go Iron Girl! We are proud of you! Here's her race report...

My Ironman Mont-Tremblant Race ReportRace Day: Sunday, August 19th, 2012It
was over a year ago, that I decided that I would tackle my second
Ironman. The New York City Ironman and the Mont-Tremblant Ironman were
announced at the same time. I looked at both websites and knew
immediately that I wanted to race in Canada. Everything about it seemed
like I would be in for one epic adventure - and an epic adventure it
was!The
list is long of people who helped me throughout my training process. I
have kept a list of each of those people, and hopefully, they know who
they are, as I could not have done this race without them!I
began training in January, as I was would be doing the Oceanside 70.3
race in March and then Vineman 70.3 in July. These two races would be
great indicators as to how my training was progressing. Those
experiences, in themselves, were great teaching tools to get me to the
start line of Ironman Mont-Tremblant.I
arrived in Mont-Tremblant on Thursday prior to the race. This was a
very long and rough day of travel. With flight delays on every portion
of the race, a long wait to get through customs, and then finding out
the car rental company that I had made my reservation through did not
actually have a car for me, I was spent. While trying to figure out
what to do about the car situation, I happened to see the guy from
Enterprise-Rent-A-Car that had helped me in June when I flew up to
preview the course. I said hello and explained my situation. He had me
follow him to the Enterprise counter and within minutes, had a car for
me, and at a fraction of the cost it normally would have been. (I
almost always use Enterprise. When I was booking my car for this trip,
this other company - that didn’t end up having a car for me - was
significantly less expensive so I decided to try them instead of
Enterprise. Lesson learned there! Stick with what you know to be a
quality service so you don’t have to be worried about things when you
arrive!) I got to the hotel where my reservation was made and they
ended up sending me to another hotel, who sent me to a third hotel,
where I finally had a room. In Tremblant, you use a central reservation
group to book rooms. This means that your reservation may say one
hotel, and you end up somewhere else, which is exactly what happened to
me. By the time I finally got to my room it was almost 10pm and I was
exhausted! I had planned to be there around 6pm. Things change, and I
just rolled with it.Friday
morning, I put my bike together, which was a first for me! I have only
traveled to races where my bike arrived still put together! I did what
I knew how to do and then met with my coach, who helped me with the
rest of it. It was great to have him there! It was a relief to know
that I had some friendly faces there and that they knew how to help me
with the little things! He got everything dialed in for me and then I
headed back to my room. I went for a short run down to the swim exit
area and just chatted with a few athletes who had just come out of the
water. All reports were that the water was great! I did a bit more
running and then went back to my room to just chill out and relax a bit.
My room overlooked the mountain behind the village and I just sat with
the patio doors open, enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of
excitement in the air. I
then decided to go for a short swim to test out the water myself. I
always like to swim at least once in a new body of water so that there
are no surprises on race day. The water was just as everyone said -
GREAT! It was about 72 degrees and clean. You can see the bottom for a
good portion of it. I probably only swam about 500 yards or so before
getting out. My coach said that two days before is the most important
for rest. I opted not to take my bike out on Friday, and instead went
and got checked in. Registration was a very smooth process and it was
fairly quick. If there is anything I have learned over the years, it is
to NOT go first thing in the morning when registration opens. Instead,
wait a few hours and you can usually walk right through, which is what I
did. Perfect! The
Athlete Welcome Dinner was Friday night - UNBELIEVABLE! The energy was
alive and well. I was fortunate to be given a VIP bracelet to sit in
the middle, close to the stage. The banquet was in an enormous tent -
the biggest I’ve ever seen! There was some local talent that brought
everything to life. They were drummers and they had their presentation
nailed down and choreographed. It is very hard to describe. Pictures
don’t describe it and even the short videos I took can not give you a
true sense of how incredible these performers were. UNREAL! It was an
amazing way to start the evening. Like
most banquets, they had a few speakers, a few videos, and of course
food. Dinner was a fantastic spread of French-Canadian Fare while still
giving it that pre-race meal feel. Meats, salads, fruits, veggies,
etc. Delish! At the conclusion of the dinner, everyone gathered
outside at the Ironman Stage where they had another performer play for
90 minutes, followed by a spectacular fireworks show. Because a majority
of the athletes stayed in the village, the sheer number of people that
stayed for the entire evening was quite impressive. Usually once the
banquet is done, everyone goes their separate way for the night. I
would guess that there were at least 1000 people that stayed until after
the fireworks. And then......time for bed. We are all told that
Friday night is the most important night of sleep, since most of us
can’t sleep the night before the race. All week I had had restless
sleep and dreams of different aspects of the race that woke me in the
middle of the night. Friday night was no different, but at least I got a
mostly solid night rest.On
Saturday, I did short bouts of each discipline. Biking to make sure
all my gears worked and that everything felt comfortable, running to
loosen things up, and then....the swim. Wow, what a difference a day
makes. The water was SO CHOPPY when I went down to swim. I debated on
whether or not to even get in, but decided that if it was like this on
race morning, I would want to be prepared. So again, I swam about 500
yards or so. That was enough for me. I had my fingers crossed at that
point that race morning would prove to have perfect water conditions. I
put all my gear together that needed to get checked in and then headed
down to get my bike and gear checked in. They transformed the banquet
tent into change tents and the gear bag area - brilliant! It was
perfectly set up! The only thing left to do on Saturday was to eat some
dinner and go to bed early!RACE DAY!!!More
than anything, I was excited to be racing. I thought I would be super
nervous, but I wasn’t. This is another first for me! I got up, ate
some breakfast, did some stretching, made sure I had everything I
needed, and headed down to transition. The great thing about staying at
the village is that I was able to walk everywhere and didn’t need extra
travel time. The other bonus is that they have a little tram that
takes you from the top of the hill down to the bottom, where transition
was. So, I hopped on the tram and got a ride to the bottom. The first
thing waiting for me at the bottom of the hill was the bodymarking
volunteers! Got myself marked and headed towards my bike. I made sure
everything was set with the bike, headed to my gear bags to put a few
odds and ends in each one, and then back to the bike. I put my wetsuit
on, put on an ample amount of bodyglide, and walked to the swim start. The
swim start was about ½ mile from transition. I had my extra tennis
shoes with me as well as a cheap pair of flip flops. I walked over in
my shoes and then changed into the flip flops when I got to the beach.
I used the bathroom, took my warm comfy clothes off, put them in the
dry clothes bag, dropped them off, and headed to the beach with my swim
cap and googles. It was a cool morning - about 49 degrees or so. A nice
volunteer helped me get zipped up and I was ready to roll. When
the gun went off (or rather, they had to yell ‘GO’ because they were
going to use a cannon, but spectators would not move far enough away
from it to be safe to fire), I let the fast swimmers get on their way
and then started my day - just a long, catered training day, right?!
Because it was a one loop swim, the field spread out pretty quickly,
which was great for me. I found some bubbles to draft off of and just
found a groove and kept swimming. I felt great in the water. Oh, by
the way, the water was completely flat race morning with not an ounce of
wind to stir things up! Again, what a difference a day makes! There
were only a few points of congestion but I didn’t get worked up about
it. We were all in it together. The turn buoys were far enough apart
that we weren’t swimming on top of each other to make the turns.
Swimming has never been my strong point, so for me, it is a matter of
getting it done. I ended up out of the water slower than I anticipated,
but close to what I expected. Once out of the water, you have to run ¼
mile to transition. This is part of the reason for my 8 minute T1
transition! I don’t regret taking the time to put arm warmers on - AT
ALL! The water was 73 degrees race morning, but getting out of the
water, the air was only about 50 degrees. When you are wet, that is
pretty cold! On
to the bike course! I had driven the bike course when I came in June
and now would experience it by bike! Most of the roads have been
freshly paved without a crack in the road to get stuck in! I got to the
mount line, only to find my chain had come off. How in the world that
happened, I have no idea. I quickly got it put on and was off. This
bike course is absolutely beautiful and mostly fast. There are some
rolling hills to keep things exciting. The first loop was fantastic.
The real challenge on both loops are the hills that come at the end of
each loop. There is about a 6 mile stretch where you do nothing but
stair-stepping hills that are all between 10-12% grades. Let me tell
you, those hurt! The first loop wasn’t so bad. The hills were tough,
but seemed to go well. Getting out on to the second loop was a treat.
The wind had picked up a bit - not bad, but enough to notice - and we
had a little bit of a drizzle here and there. I’ll be the first to
admit that there was some drafting going on. There were some draft
packs that were probably 20-30 strong going the opposite direction of
me. I was mildly jealous! Again, it was still fairly fast, all things
considered. And then....those nasty hills come back for round two - and
they came with a vengeance. On the second loop, I had in my mind
something my coach had told me in a previous conversation - that it is
ok to suffer and that you should push yourself a bit. Well, I think I
may have done this a little too early in the game. I pushed through the
wind and the rain and then hit the hills. I didn’t have a whole lot
left in my legs to get up those hills. While I never had to get off and
walk my bike up the hills, it did cross my mind more than once to do
so. If it weren’t for the amazing scenery and perfectly paved roads, I
might have gotten a nasty attitude. Instead, I just smiled and enjoyed
the pain. This is possible, I promise! The best part about climbing
those hills at the end of the loop, is that you then get to come down
them and into transition! I love to go fast - sometimes clocking well
over 40 mph! It is a fast descent into transition. I don’t regret the
extra minute I took to change out of my tri shorts and into some running
capris. I wanted to be comfortable on the run and felt that getting
out of my shorts would be a good strategy. This ended up to be a wise
decision. And
now, we run! While I knew my run wasn’t what it was 3 years ago, I
still felt really good going into the race. I had run the course in
June so I knew what to expect. What I didn’t do in June was swim and
bike before the run! It is MUCH tougher after those two disciplines are
behind you! I hit the first hill. There were so many spectators that I
couldn’t pull myself to walk, so I inched up and up until I got to the
top and could cruise down the other side. You then go up and down a few
more hills before getting to a really nice, flat trail-like section.
It is packed dirt with a layer of small gravel on it. It is really
great for running on! Not to mention, the scenery in this area was
amazing. Streams, lakes, golf course, and a canopy of trees overhead
made for an ideal course. And
then the rain came. And it came and it came. This is when I was glad I
was in my capris. While I can’t say that they kept me warm, I was
certainly warmer than I would have been had I not changed. What was
rough was that the shoes I wore have ventilation in the bottom, so water
was coming into my shoes from the puddles below and the rain above. I
was carrying some serious extra weight on my feet. Coming to the end of
the first loop, and running up and down all those hills a second time,
you come back to the village. Instead of going left to the finish line,
you go right and head back out onto the course. Running through the
village with the entire route lined with spectators made you feel like a
rock star!!! It was energizing and made heading out on the second lap a
happy thing! There were some tough moments on that second lap.
Moments when I had to really dig deep to keep myself moving forward.
Moments when the rain was coming down so hard I wondered what in the
world I was doing. I reminded myself that before I came I told several
people that if it started raining, then I would just start singing! So,
that is what I did! I put a smile on my face, and just sang some tunes
in my head to keep myself moving forward. At every aid station, I
drank the chicken broth, which saved the day! The sodium helped
tremendously. It was what kept me going. For
me, it has always been the end of the run where it is the toughest to
keep the mental game in tact. Some times have been more successful than
others, but I knew I was still in the time frame that I wanted to
finish and so I was able to stick with it. There were a few people I
knew who were racing and seeing them gave me even more energy to finish.
Before you run downhill to the finish line, you have to run up a
pretty good hill. I walked and I was completely ok with that! Once to
the top of the hill, I started my run down through the crowd-lined
course, and smiled my way across the finish line! Mike Reilly was there
to bring me in and said, “Judy Stowers from Scottsdale, Arizona - YOU
ARE AN IRONMAN!” It was an emotional moment for me in many ways. I had
come to accomplish this one goal of finishing, and I did it! I don’t
have my finisher picture yet, but I know I am smiling in it! :) THE AFTERMATHAfter
finishing the race, and putting my dry clothes on, I ended up sitting
in front of heating lamps for almost an hour to try to warm up. I was
cold to the core. I finally pulled myself away and got back to my room
to shower and into warm clothes. One of the best things about an
Ironman race is the last hour watching those people cross the line.
When I mumble to myself about having a few extra pounds on that make
racing harder, I look at some of those people crossing who have an extra
100 or even 150 pounds and am both amazed and humbled to see them
finish. It is an exciting hour of bringing those final finishers in! I
finally got back to my room and into bed around 1am. I slept like a
rock! My
body feels pretty good considering what I put myself through. The only
lingering ailments are some body aches/cold symptoms that I’m sure came
from the water and from the rain. I did take a quick trip to the top
of the mountain to take in the views of the area on Monday.The
race was an amazing experience from start to finish. Despite the rain
and a bit of wind, I could not have asked for a better day! I loved
every minute - even the painful portions! I passed almost 500 people on
the bike and another 100 on the run (amazing since that was my slowest
marathon EVER). Guess I need to work on that swim! The community has
embraced the event and come together to make it a spectacular
experience. The government has poured millions of dollars into road
improvements and other things to make the race safe and comfortable. It
is a challenging course through and through, but it keeps it an honest
Ironman course. While I am now retired from the full Ironman distance
races, I will definitely come back to Mont-Tremblant whether for
vacation or to cheer on other athletes as they race!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

My friend April is selling her GARMIN 110 heart rate monitor. She only used it a handful of times before a knee injury sidelined her from running. The watch is pink and grey and in excellent condition. It comes with a charger and and heart rate strap as well. If you are interested, contact her at april_a_williams@me.com.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Last week I was coaching Masters and a girl in the pool asked me to hand me her kick board. "Mine's the one with the zebra stripes," she said.

When I walked over to retrieve her board, I noticed not only her kick board with a stripe of zebra down the middle, but that same stripe on her fins, her snorkel and around her swim bag. She then told me she had bought a roll of patterned duct tape at a craft store and and had taped her "trademark" on all her swim essentials.

Michael's Crafts had a great selection of colored and patterned duct tape. I am definitely going to add

my signature stripe to all my swim gear. Just got to find the time to get over there and do it. Stay tuned for photos.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I asked Dave to share his thoughts on IM Boulder 70.3. Here is his report. Thanks, Dave and congratulations!

I signed up for Boulder almost a year ago. I was in the process of moving from Calgary to Phoenix and I thought it would remind me of the mountains and trees I was leaving, it was relatively close to AZ and a popular race. Other than that, I didn't know much about it.

As race day approached, I was pretty relaxed. I had done all the training on my plan. I had gained a little weight but not too much (chips, salsa, Carolina's tacos... need I say more). I was in good shape and this would be my fourth 70.3 so I knew the routine. After signing up, I read about the altitude change affecting athletes from closer to sea level - Boulder is 5,400 ft. Not a big difference coming from Calgary, however, from Phoenix it is a big deal. Still, I had dealt with altitude before and other than a headache, I was always fine. Advice varied on-line: Some said to get there early and acclimate, others said arrive just before and plow through it. I decided to pair this with a business trip and get there 4 days early. Altitude be damned! I drove up and stayed with some friends in Red Feather Lakes as well as a hotel in Loveland and finally Boulder. BEAUTIFUL location. Gorgeous mountains and places to see.

Like other Ironman races, this one was well planned and organized. The Ironman 'village' is right at the Boulder Reservoir and was well attended. Newton is based in Boulder and had a nice tent as well as other local shops. Training Peaks was there and a couple of bike shops. All and all, pretty good. The Ironman store was fairly well stocked but didn't have a lot of IMBoulder stuff. The athlete check-in was easy and organized.

This race is not point to point. It revolves around the Boulder Reservoir outside of town. Single transition area.

Race Day

Had a great nights rest two nights before (that is always my plan, as the night before the race is a crap shoot). The race started at 7:00 a.m. in a wave start so I was up at 4:30 to get everything ready. Boulder allows you to bring everything race day so I had to haul my bike and everything else out to the car. Parking was ample and well policed. We got right in and I was at transition setting things up by 5:30. Transition closed at 6:20 and my wave entered the water at 7:35. This ended up being a bit of an issue later on.... The water temperature had been above the limit for wetsuits but the night before it got a bit colder so wetsuits were legal.

Swim

The swim is one lap in sort of a triangle, a series of white buoys with red ones for the turns. I really like that setup because I find it keeps you straighter and provides small milestones within the swim. You just keep the buoys on the right the whole way. It was a water start and the water was very murky and brown. It was kind of gross. I could feel the lack of oxygen in the first bit and had to stop a couple of times until I got a rhythm. Breathing every other stroke was the best I could do. I was out at 44:53 which is right at what I expected. No wetsuit strippers.

Bike

I loved this course. It was a two-lap course around the reservoir but was fairly flat with some wonderful downhill stretches. Because it was two laps there was a lot of traffic and fairly crowded. I did see the leaders come by, Matty Reed was very noticeable. Lap one went great. My nutrition was good and I was trying to stay hydrated in the altitude. Then I got a flat! It was right before the big downhill and I knew I had to fix it. It seemed like an eternity but I fixed it and moved on. Probably cost me 8-10 minutes. At that point, I knew it wasn't going to be my day. Still, I was on pace and felt pretty good. I shook it off and moved forward. It started to get hotter as the day progressed but I was used to this, being from AZ. So I thought... I got in at 3:08 including transition and a flat tire so a pretty good time, considering. At least for me.

Run

Left transition and started the run. The run is a two-loop course around the reservoir. There is absolutely NO shade. It was starting to get quite hot - 90+. I got into a good pace (for me) for the first two miles and then I came undone. My heart rate was high and I felt like crap. I walked a bit trying to listen to my body.... it was saying STOP! This was nothing new but it was powerful. I developed a plugged ear (I assumed from fatigue and heat stress) which scared me a little. Aid stations were every mile and I drank a lot of water and carried ice between stations. I had purchased the Zoot cooling sleeves "in case I needed them" and they went on about mile five. They really helped to lower my body temperature - I recommend them.

The second lap looked daunting. I saw a couple of people quit and they pulled some people out with an ambulance. I knew I would not be getting a PB. I decided to learn from this and finish as fresh as possible. I met a very fit and chipper 58-year-old named Keri walking. She was having some exercise induced asthma. We decided to talk and encourage each other, which worked most of the second lap. She was weaker than me but I found the discussion distracted me from all of my issues (there's a life lesson there somewhere). I probably could have gone faster but stayed with her until the final bit. Finished as fresh as possible, plugged ear and all. Run was a horrible 3:02 including transition.

Final time, 7:03:01. My worst time at this distance.

Summary

One of the reasons I am a triathlete is what it teaches me about life and myself - things that are applicable beyond any course or race. There is no such thing as a bad race - all races teach you something if you let them. Here are my Lessons Learned or Re-learned from IM Boulder 70.3:
1.Pick your races carefully and understand what you are getting into. When I signed up, I didn't realize the altitude combined with the heat would be such factors - something I could have researched before. Not that I would have avoided the race, I just would have been more informed. Altitude and heat affect people differently so no recommendation here. Just be aware. It ended up catching up with me.
2.Listen to your body, always. Triathlon for me is a hobby and is fun. I race and train to be able to race and train for years. One race or workout is NOT the be-all end-all. My body told me to take it easier than I expected and I respected that. Our sport is full of Type A's who beat themselves into injury and self destruction in situations like this in the name of "toughness." That never works, long-term.
3.Sometimes it isn't your day / Be in the present. I found out everybody has a bad race despite preparation and good intentions. Accept it and adjust your goals and expectations. By all means, don't let it ruin things. Deal with what has been dealt to you and roll with the punches. I finished with a smile on my face and that means I accomplished my goal.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Every once in awhile triathlon takes a back seat to life. In this case, it was wedding planning and all that that entails. And what a great time it was. I'll post more photos later, but here's a little iPhone preview.

The Dress....

The Couple...

The Social Media...

It was a magical journey from first meeting to engagement to marriage. So many happy memories we can share with this new couple. I loved every minute of it. And now, it's time work off the wedding cake.